Author Archives
Founder: Elements of Madness | Past Bylines at CLTure, Pretty Vacant One, FilmFed, & Mountain Xpress | NC Film Critics Association, Southeastern Film Critics Association, & Critics Choice Association member | Rotten Tomatoes approved individual critic
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Head back to 1996 with a 2K restoration of the Jet Li action classic “Black Mask” via Eureka Entertainment.
Despite living in an age where thousands of films are available at the touch of a button, there’re still far too many films that are either difficult-bordering-on-impossible to stream, thereby making physical media the best way to access what you… Read More ›
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Cult Epics offers a world premiere 4K UHD restoration of Tinto Brass’s erotic dramedy “All Ladies Do It.”
Despite the push in the United States to regulate it in order to promote a very specific agenda tied to faith, sex is not a bad thing. It can be awkward, messy, and silly, but when it’s between consenting adults,… Read More ›
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Director Martin Bourboulon sticks the landing in the concluding portion of his “The Three Musketeers” adaptation – “Part II: Milady.”
As satisfying as it can be to view one whole story when you sit down to enjoy a film, there are exceptions where a second (or more) is needed to really make it satiating. Especially when it comes to adaptations,… Read More ›
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“Monolith” Blu-ray Giveaway
After spending time on the festival circuit, Matt Vesely’s feature-length directorial debut, Monolith, starring Evil Dead Rise‘s Lily Sullivan, released into U.S. theaters February 2024. Now the science fiction thriller is set to come home on physical formats via Well Go… Read More ›
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What harm could a little “Hanky Panky” do?
It all starts with an idea. Then, if you’re lucky, that idea blossoms into a complete story that can then be transformed from words on a page into a fully-staged production. For all the films released in a week every… Read More ›
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“The People’s Joker:” And the Emancipation of One Vera Drew.
Yellow Smiley offers me X Like he’s drinking 7-Up I would rather drink six razor blades Razor blades from a paper cup He can’t understand, I say too tough It’s just that I’ve seen the future and boy it’s rough… Read More ›
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“Lisa Frankenstein” pieces together ‘80s teen comedy tropes to create something unholy original, now on home video.
1980s American cinema included some of the most influential teen comedies in cinema. So much so that filmmakers continue to take inspiration from them. The thing is that, while significant for their time, the majority of these films focused on… Read More ›
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“The Roundup: No Way Out” on home video is the only way you want Det. Ma paying you a visit.
2023 provided a proper glut of delicious action flicks. In addition to the obvious theatrical blockbusters like John Wick: Chapter 4, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and Teenage Mutant Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, we also got Sisu,… Read More ›
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Everything you thought you knew about the “Realm of Satan” is on display, making you question whether the film is fact or farce. [The Overlook Film Festival]
“For the uninvited, there is much to fear.” – Sign posted above the entrance to a home in Realm of Satan. For all of human existence, where there wasn’t an explanation before them, one was created. Myths become legends which… Read More ›
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Ariane Louis-Seize’s “Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person” blends melancholic drama and teenage angst in an exploration of the human condition through a vampiric lens. [The Overlook Film Festival]
Photosensitivity Warning: In several key sequences, flickering lights are used to convey enhanced emotions which may prove problematic for sensitive viewers. In undergrad at UNC at Asheville, during a lower-level English course, Bram Stoker’s Dracula was read and discussed as… Read More ›
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“Sweet Dreams” Swag Package Giveaway
The latest project from writer/director Lije Sarki (Concrete Kids) is just about swing into theaters before landing right at home on VOD. The dramedy Sweet Dreams, starring Johnny Knoxville (History of the World: Part II), Mo Amer (Mo), Bobby Lee… Read More ›
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Based-on-a-true-story dramedy “Wicked Little Letters” entraps with humor and mystery.
“This is more true than you’d think.” Truth, it’s said, is often stranger than fiction. It’s why so many stories are inspired by or adapted from real incidents. Such is the case here with the new project from director Thea… Read More ›
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17 films to check out during The Overlook Film Festival 2024.
For the second time, Elements of Madness will be covering The Overlook Film Festival and we thought we’d offer up our recommendations of what to check out during the fest or what to keep an eye out for in wider… Read More ›
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The on-disc bonus features may be bare, but the action in “Baby Assassins 2” is anything but.
The slacker comedy comes in many shapes and varieties. You’ve got rom-com Mallrats (1995), straight comedy Friday (1995), dramedy Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986), and comedic thriller The Big Lebowski (1998). Each one uses the slackers at their center to… Read More ›
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Director Raymond St-Jean tackles the story of Canadian hitman Donald Lavoie in “Dusk for a Hitman (Crépuscule pour un tueur).”
Real life is often fodder for storytelling. Typically, one will take an experience or emotion and transcribe that into something unique. However, fiction isn’t always as compelling as reality, which is why we get stories like Dumb Money (2023) detailing… Read More ›
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The play’s the thing when it comes to comedic documentary “Grand Theft Hamlet.” [SXSW]
The pandemic did a lot of things to the citizens of the world in the early years, the least of which was take thousands of lives. Those who remained in those initial months and years dealt with physical isolation, financial… Read More ›
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“Lisa Frankenstein” Digital Code Giveaway
In time for Valentine’s Day 2024, Focus Features released Zelda Williams’s feature-length directorial debut Lisa Frankenstein. Written by Diablo Cody (Jennifer’s Body; Juno) and starring Kathryn Newton (Freaky) and Cole Sprouse (Moonshot), it’s a tale of love and necromancy set in… Read More ›
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More than sew-sew, comedic thriller “Sew Torn” will leave you in stitches. [SXSW]
“For want of a nail …” Choices upon choices upon choices are what bring you to this review at this moment in your life. Maybe you signed up for notices when a new one publishes from EoM, maybe you follow… Read More ›
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“Cold Wallet” is a home invasion thriller that lacks any strength in the teeth it tries to bare. [SXSW]
Capitalism is great when you’re rich and the worst when you’re poor. Or, in the case of current economic insecurities in the U.S., middle class. Capitalism functions off the premise that trade and industry are better off when private owners… Read More ›
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Take to the skies with the new home release edition of Liu Xiaoshi’s aviation drama “Born To Fly.”
April 2023, director/co-writer Liu Xiaoshi’s Born To Fly soared into U.S. theaters, bringing with it an energy from China that American audiences recognized from the Top Gun series: big attitudes, fast planes, and a desire to be the best there… Read More ›